Norway – Denmark: this is the poster for the final of the European Championship which will take place on Sunday (8:30 p.m.) in Ljubljana in the Slovenian capital. It will be without France. At the end of the afternoon, the Danes dismissed Montenegro 27-23 and then alas, three times alas, later in the evening Norway took out France (20-28) yet undefeated so far in the tournament. Disappointment ? Yes of course. It is even huge, especially given the score. Impressive steamroller since the start of the tournament, the tricolor engine this time seized up.
A surprise too? No, not even. Even if France is Olympic champion, Norway is the best nation in the universe of the sticky ball. European champion and world champion in title, Norway, it is 7 European coronations in 9 European Championships since 2004. It is the nation which beat France in the final of the Euro in 2020 and the Championship of the world just a year ago. We are not doing better in terms of prize lists. Norway is the bane of Les Bleues who have not been able to win since 2017 and it continues. If we forget the hiccup (13th) of the World Cup in Japan in 2019, France missed the opportunity to qualify for the 6th time in a row in the final of a major tournament (World Cup 2017, 2021; Euro 2018, 2022; Olympic Games 2021). That’s a shame.
As expected and in a room far too empty for such a poster, nothing was easy for the troupe of Cléopâtre Darleux. For the first time since the start of the Euro, Les Bleues were behind. History to put the points on “i”, it did not drag out. After a minute, the Norwegians carried by their always perfect strategist Stine Oftedal took the lead. During the first 30 minutes, the mano a mano did not stop: a blow Norway found itself in front; another blow, France took the advantage in turn. At the break, even if Norway were in front (12-11), there was still everything to do, on each side.
“Too much technical waste in attack. It took a toll on our morale. »
The game was unfortunately less tight in the second period. It has become more complicated for the Blues. The manual for the steamroller has changed sides. The French let the Scandinavians take a three-step lead (17-20, 43rd), then four (19-23, 50th), five (19-24, 52nd) six (20-26, 54th), seven (20 -27, 56th) and even eight in the end (20-28). It quickly became too, far too much to hope to return. We had to put doubt in the minds of the Scandinavians. On the contrary, Les Bleues put them in complete confidence throughout the game.
It is like this: the Norwegians managed the perfect match, the French missed theirs, at least their second period. “The gap doesn’t matter, what matters is the defeat, regrets Olivier Krumbholz on beIN Sports. We had a very bad second period with too much technical waste in attack. It took a toll on our morale. We obviously have to play better than that against such an opponent. Norway were stronger than us and deserved their victory. »
Now you have to overcome the disappointment. There is still one game left, the worst to play in a tournament. We are talking about the small final to get a bronze medal that we will quickly forget, as usual. Sunday (5.45 p.m.), France will find Montenegro on its way, which Les Bleues largely beat last Monday in the group stage (27-19). This time will be a different story. Not the one we were hoping for, not the one Olivier Krumbholz was hoping for for his 500th match as coach.